Growing Up

It’s kind of amazing watching my little one grow up.  She’s just over a year now, but she wants so much to be like the big people.  One the common phrases around her is “When did you learn how to do that!?”  A lot of it is imitation, and is very cute, but is very much a reminder of how quickly time passes.

Sushi and I are both avid readers, and we seem to have produced a bibliophile.  If we are sitting around reading a book or even just typing something on the  computer, she frequently goes and grabs a book and sits down in one of her little places.

She was incredibly pleased when we finally found a wooden chair that was just her size.  We found it at Goodwill, and she loves sitting in it.  It’s got to be frustrating to have all of the furniture be proportioned for people several times as large as you.

At mealtimes she insists on having flatware like everyone else, and has since before she started actually eating food.  When she was very little, we figured giving a spoon to the baby was a fine way to entertain her at dinner time while we ate our food.  She seems to be getting pretty competent with it, though.

She plays on the computer whenever she gets a chance – she is a champion chair climber, so if we don’t tuck in our chairs, she’s up on the table or the desk. 

In addition to all these, she’s starting to catch on to the idea of sign language.  This past week she’s started doing “dog,” “cat,” “please,” and “bear.”  She can also do “more,” “ball,” and “light.”  Granted, they aren’t perfect (please and more get mixed up, she touches her nose for cat rather than stroking her cheek next to her nose, and she calls horses cats) but she’s getting the idea.  All of us are happy with this breakthrough in communication; it is very nice to know exactly what she sees and wants to investigate, and it is incredibly nice to have her sign “please” when she wants something rather than point and grunt hoping we will get the idea (grunt is hard to interpret sometimes).